The Enzymatic Core of Snakes

The snake’s venom conformation consists of several enzymes and other proteins which all contribute to the envenomation phenomena. Our objective consists in finding an enzymatic core along a snake-population study in order to achieve a better understanding of the role played by these enzymes. Such identification will build up our hypothesis that all venomous organisms share an enzymatic core. For enzymes identification, transcriptomic data available from selected snake species was processed, followed by an intersection analysis. An enzymatic core composed by 50 enzyme classes was found with an overall high presence of hydrolases. Unexpectedly, among the core components, an elevated amount of serine endopeptidases was identified and associated to the enhancement of the venom’s action in its host, which has been described in the properties of Furin in Loxosceles’ venom. Evidence was found of a correlation between previously described scorpion’s enzymatic core and snake’s enzymatic core described herein, supporting the idea of a shared enzymatic core among all venomous animals.